Visiting first-rate culture

Costa Mesa is readying itself for a cultural festival of unprecedented proportions.

In a rare interview, Henry and Elizabeth Segerstrom spoke with the Daily Pilot about their hopes for the Ancient Paths, Modern Voices Chinese cultural festival, which opens today.

The festival, presented here by Carnegie Hall with the Philharmonic Society of Orange County, will bring giants of traditional and contemporary Chinese music, film, theater, photography — and even sport — to the area through Nov. 24. Ancient Paths, Modern Voices marks the first time in its 119 years that Carnegie Hall has worked with an outside organization to put on a festival.

Bringing this Chinese cultural showcase to Orange County may not have happened without the Segerstroms.

“As we’ve gone through the evolution, communication, planning and implementation, we’ve become very excited,” Henry Segerstrom said.

“It’s a very large accomplishment, and puts the focus of the world on the Segerstrom Center for the Arts. This is not a geographically restricted marketing or advertising partnership. This is affecting people all over the country, and internationally.”

Segerstrom, the managing partner of C.J. Segerstrom & Sons, is widely known for his business acumen and philanthropy. He turned his family farming company into a real estate development powerhouse, beginning with what is now South Coast Plaza; the family still has a small working farm on Fairview Street.

Over the past 35 years, the Segerstrom family donated land and funds for the area that became the Orange County Performing Arts Center and the overlapping 12-acre Segerstrom Center for the Arts. The Segerstroms have commissioned architecture and sculpture for the area as well.

Although most events of this scale and scope take several years to put together, Henry Segerstrom said the idea of an Orange County version of the Ancient Paths, Modern Voices festival originated last fall.

“It was a mutual decision coming from casual conversation,” Segerstrom said. “It really was a conversation between Clive Gillinson and myself.”

Gillinson is Carnegie Hall’s executive and artistic director.

Segerstrom suggested to him that the Philharmonic Society of Orange County present the West Coast version of the festival, and Gillinson readily assented, following a visit to the area.

“The festival itself was created by Clive and Carnegie Hall, so we inherited it,” Segerstrom said. Carnegie Hall had already worked through issues like acquiring visas, which Segerstrom called a boon for the Philharmonic.

“It all came together in a matter of days, not weeks and months,” Segerstrom said.

Segerstrom attributed Carnegie Hall’s interest to the arts center’s preeminent infrastructure.

“It shows, too, the extent and the development of Orange County — that we are received as equals with Carnegie Hall,” he said. “So here we are. We have the facilities, and now we have the product.”

Segerstrom said his goal was to bring China’s best artists to Orange County, some of whom will be leaving their country for the first time.

“It is very rewarding to have this festival in a time when there is so much focus on China,” Segerstrom said. “It’s very of-the-moment.”

“It will be excellent to have the opportunity to meet and see artists who have never left China before,” his wife, Elizabeth, said.

But for artists like piano superstar Lang Lang, who performed here last year and in 2005, it will be like coming home, she said.

“Elizabeth and I are committed to bringing the best here,” Henry Segerstrom said. “There should be nothing second-rate, only first.”

Segerstrom said he was pleased to hear that an official delegation from Beijing will come to the United States to take part in the festival.

He believes that visitors from China will judge Orange County by its facilities, like those at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts.

“They have a great appreciation for Western cultural development, so they will be looking at what we do and how we do it,” he said.

“I think they will get a sense of friendliness and openness,” Elizabeth Segerstrom said.

The area’s large expatriate Chinese and Chinese American population also have shown pride in and enthusiasm for the festival, they said.

Several of the events in the festival will be free or low-cost, a side benefit that Elizabeth Segerstrom appreciated.

“I think it’s kind of fun to make it accessible to everyone,” she said.